These were released in the form of "enhanced demos" on limited edition EPs (see section BSP EP1-6).

Later in the year, the band spent two weeks in the Welsh mountains working on completing the songs.

The name of the album (and its title track) comes from a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury, The Machineries of Joy.

[15] British Sea Power began working on the songs which would form the album in the first half of 2012, releasing six limited-edition demo EPs, one at each of their monthly Krankenhaus club nights in Brighton.

The cover of each EP features a picture of a bird or animal wearing a hat, drawn by band member Yan (Scott Wilkinson).